Area One Farms News and Press

A Warming Climate Brings New Crops to Frigid Zones

Joelle Faulkner, the CEO of Area One Farms, has been involved in a recent discussion pertaining to climate change in Canada and its clear indicators. Due to a warming climate, and therefore, longer growing seasons, farmers have found new opportunity that was not at hand in chillier territories. In this piece, we catch a glimpse of the northern edge of the Farm Belt, located in upper Alberta, where farmers are clearing forests to make way for corn and other crops.

These Canadian women are leading the most promising businesses

As you may have been aware, our founder and president, Joelle Faulkner, was among five Canadian women welcomed into the Winning Women class of 2018 as presented by EY.

The EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program not only classifies female entrepreneurs who have shown great potential to scale, but works to further their growth and assists them in making these steps.

“I’ve seen firsthand how valuable this program is to opening doors to women who are already on their way, and helping them find the capital, resources and mentors to propel them further”, shares Tiki Cheung, EY Partner and Canadian EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program leader.

This photograph was taken at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National gala on Wednesday, November 28. From left to right: Elyssa, Heather Payne from HackerYou College of Technology, Lauren Haw & Alyssa Furtado from Ratehub Inc., Joelle Faulkner and Tiki Cheung, the program leader.

“I’m honoured to be chosen for the Entrepreneurial Winning Women North America Class of 2018,” says Joelle Faulkner. “The program has produced and fostered some incredible female entrepreneurs and leaders, and I am really looking forward to taking what I learn alongside these accomplished women back to better support Canada’s farmers.”

Joelle Faulkner, the CEO and founder of Area One Farms, is among the few influential female entrepreneurs to be honoured into EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women’s Class of 2018.

The EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program is an annual competition and executive leadership program that identifies a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show real potential to scale. Joelle is humbled to be recognized in a class held to such a high regard.

Joelle’s efforts in bringing Area One Farms to acquiring over $250 million invested has been deeply acknowledged, and she is confident in continuing to successfully bridge the gap between investors and farmers.

Area One Farms Serve as Equity Partners in Ontario’s North

Area One Farms featured in PE Hub’s Buyout Magazine

This year, Area One Farms is launching not one, but two new funds to increase our ability to partner with Canadian Farmers who need to expand their farming operation. Featured in Pe Hub’s Buyout Magazine, Joelle Faulkner says,

Area One Farms Fund IV is targeting C$250 million (US$194.4 million) from institutions, with room to raise around C$100 million more.
A cornerstone commitment of C$100 million has been secured from a Canadian institution. The fund has a 10-year term.
Fund V is aimed at Canadian individuals and structured as a permanent-capital vehicle, with liquidity options starting in year five.
It will seek C$50 million to C$100 million to invest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where laws limit the ability of institutions to purchase farmland. Faulkner hopes to hold first closes in the summer and to wrap up fundraising by year’s end.

Both of these funds allow us to continue growing our vision to help family farms in Canada. Especially Fund V, which allows us to partner with farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Joelle Faulkner continues,

The idea is to help farmers expand or keep their operations in the family, Faulkner explained.
“Either you’re retiring and you have no kids interested [in farming], in which case you want to sell,” she said. “Or you’re retiring and you have three kids interested, so you have to triple the farm size, and you need so much capital.”
Because Area One’s partners earn income and appreciation on the part of the property they don’t own, “unless they could do it really, truly on their own, they’re better o with us than any other method.”

Joelle Faulkner featured in Women in Ag’s Quarterly Journal

Joelle Faulkner was recently included as a Woman to Watch in the latest issue of Women in Agribusiness‘ quarterly journal. When asked what advice she’d give for someone following her path, she says:

“Every time you say yes to something, you need to say no to something else, so it is important that you decide what is critical for success. In our case, it was critical to determine how to share value between our farm partners and our investors in a way that creates value so that both parties end up better off than they were without the other. Maintaining that view and partnership structure, however, has not been easy because much of the world operates with the idea that more for me has to be less for you.”

2018 ESG Policy

Area One Farms Joins United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment

Area One Farms is pleased to announce that it has qualified to become a signatory and has signed the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (UN PRI).

Founded in 2006, UN PRI is a network of global investors committed to working together to put principles of responsible investing into practice. Signatories follow a set of six principles that protect the environment, benefit society, and promote sound governance through integrity and transparent reporting.

A Billion Dollars for Northern Ontario Agriculture

Would you invest a billion dollars in Northern Ontario agriculture?

If your answer is no, you may want to reconsider.

The combination of rising global population and financial uncertainty make farmland a safe bet. Nowhere is that more true than in Canada, which enjoys abundant arable land, ample rainwater, developed infrastructure, and a long tradition of expert farming. Northern Ontario has all of Canada’s advantages, and then some. It is also one of the largest agricultural development opportunities in the world.